International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 2014; 16(3): 191–192
EDITORIAL
Synthesize, evaluate, act: 2013 Speech Pathology Australia Conference
Int J Speech Lang Pathol Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by Nanyang Technological University on 08/25/15 For personal use only.
NICOLE WATTS PAPPAS Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, NSW, Australia
This special issue highlights a number of the innovative papers presented at the 2013 Speech Pathology Australia conference held at the Gold Coast. The conference theme ‘synthesize, evaluate, act’ was evident in many of the papers presented, with a focus on both describing and evaluating our current practice as well as trialling novel assessment and intervention approaches. At the conference, we were privileged to hear three world-renowned keynote speakers share their research and insights. Their presentations are included in this issue in an adapted written form. Dr Rosemary Martino reported on research into the use of a new dysphagia screening tool – the Toronto Bedside Swallowing Screening Test (TOR-BSST©) (Martino, Maki, and Diamant, 2014). This assessment has been the subject of four multi-site studies evaluating its validity and is now being implemented in Canada as best practice. Dr Tiffany Hogan’s engaging and practical presentations on reading comprehension impairment were well attended at the conference. Her paper explores the importance of listening comprehension to overall reading comprehension, an area that has received relatively little attention in the literature (Hogan, Adlof, and Alonzo, 2014). In the Elizabeth Usher Memorial Lecture of the conference, Professor Sharynne McLeod (2014) provided a timely reminder of the ever-increasing multilingual nature of our society. In a practical and thought-provoking paper, McLeod explores how speech-language pathologists (SLPs) can meet the needs of the many clients who do not use English as their first or even second language. This issue also includes 11 select articles from the conference covering a diverse range of clinical populations and research methodologies. Three papers use a survey methodology to describe the current practice of SLPs. Short, McCormack, and Copley (2014) investigated SLPs’ provision of information regarding cognitive communication disorders to
clients with traumatic brain injury via an online survey. Their study outlines both facilitators and barriers to ideal information provision for this population. Aldous, Tolmie, Worrall, and Ferguson (2014) conducted an online survey of SLPs’ involvement in the assessment of decision-making capacity in aphasia, a potentially expanding area of practice for clinicians working with these clients. Additionally, Westerveld and Claessen (2014) surveyed SLPs regarding their use of language sampling practices. In their paper, the authors encourage clinicians to transform their practice by transcribing and analysing spontaneous language samples in more detail. Three studies evaluate the effectiveness of new and current clinical practices. Wenke, Lawrie, Hobson, Comben, Romano, Ward, et al. (2014) consider the effectiveness of three different intensive service delivery models for aphasia treatment. Of particular interest in this study was the consideration of the pro-rata cost of providing treatment per hour per client. Both group therapy and computer therapy models were found to be more costeffective than standard treatment, and all intensive models were associated with high client satisfaction. A promising new tool for evaluating the skills of early childhood educators in the areas of language and literacy support is presented by El-Choueifati, Purcell, McCabe, Heard, and Munroe (2014). In this pilot study the Interaction Communication and Literacy Skills Audit was demonstrated to reliably measure the verbal interactions of early childhood educators to facilitate language and literacy learning in young children. Finally, Goldberg, Heiss, Parsons, Foley, Mefferd, Hollinger, et al. (2014) report on the use of biometric impedance analysis as a noninvasive and easily administered tool to evaluate the hydration of people in aged care. Two papers report on studies utilizing interviews to gain a deeper understanding of the perspectives of both clients and clinicians. Nund, Ward, Scarinci, Cartmill, Kuipers, and Porceddu’s
ISSN 1754-9507 print/ISSN 1754-9515 online © 2014 The Speech Pathology Association of Australia Limited Published by Informa UK, Ltd. DOI: 10.3109/17549507.2014.916350
Int J Speech Lang Pathol Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by Nanyang Technological University on 08/25/15 For personal use only.
192
N.W. Pappas
(2014) thought-provoking paper provides a unique insight into the experiences of clients with dysphagia following head and neck surgery. Alternatively, Flatley, Kenny, and Lincoln (2014) explore the perspectives of clinicians in their unique study of the ethical dilemmas experienced by SLPs working in private practice. Following on from the theme of the Elizabeth Usher lecture, the Verdon, McLeod, and McDonald (2014) paper presents a geographical analysis of speech-language pathology services to support multilingual Australian children. This paper highlights the discrepancy between the multilingual services provided by SLPs and the often different languages spoken by clients who live in the same geographical area. Hoffman, Wilson, Copley, Hewat, and Lim (2014) also consider our work with multilingual clients in their study of the reliability of a severity rating scale for measuring stuttering in an unfamiliar language. They found poor agreement between SLPs using a severity rating scale to measure stuttering in Mandarin. Of interest is their additional finding that 50% of judges were also unable to reliably measure the severity of stuttering in Australian English, giving us pause to reflect on the effectiveness of our practice in this area. Finally, Timms, Williams, Stokes, and Kane (2014) present an interesting study investigating the impact of otitis media and hearing loss on the literacy skills of Australian indigenous school children. Their preliminary findings suggest that, whilst indigenous children do present with poorer literacy skills than non-indigenous children of a similar age, the presence of otitis media and hearing loss was not associated with poorer performance. They conclude that otitis media is just one of many factors that may impact on the literacy skills of Australian indigenous children. It has been my privilege to edit this special issue of IJSLP. In the spirit of the conference, I hope the many cutting-edge and innovative articles presented in this volume inspire readers to transform the results of research into best clinical practice.
Declaration of interest: The author reports no conflicts of interest. The author alone is responsible for the content and writing of the paper.
References Aldous, K., Tolmie, R., Worrall, L., & Ferguson, A. (2014). Speechlanguage pathologists’ contribution to the assessment of decisionmaking capacity in aphasia: A survey of common practices. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 16, 231–241. El-Choueifati, N., Purcell, A., McCabe, P., Heard, R., & Munroe, N. (2014). An initial reliability and validity study of the Interaction, Communication and Literacy Skills Audit. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 16, 260–272. Flatley, D. R., Kenny, B. J., & Lincoln, M. A. (2014). Ethical dilemmas experienced by speech-language pathologists working in private practice. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 16, 290–303. Goldberg, L. R., Heiss, C. J., Parsons, S. D., Foley, A. S., Mefferd, A. S., Hollinger, D., et al. (2014). Hydration in older adults: The contribution of bioelectrical impedance analysis. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 16, 273–281. Hoffman, L., Wilson, L., Copley, A., Hewat, S., & Lim, V. (2014). The reliability of a severity rating scale to measure stuttering in an unfamiliar language. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 16, 317–326. Hogan, T. P., Adlof , S. M., & Alonzo, C. (2014). On the importance of listening comprehension. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 16, 199–207. Martino, R., Maki, E., & Diamant, N. (2014). Identification of dysphagia using the Toronto Bedside Swallowing Screening Test (TOR-BSST©): Are ten teaspoons of water necessary? International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 16, 193– 198. McLeod, S. (2014). Resourcing speech-language pathologists to work with multilingual children. International Journal of SpeechLanguage Pathology, 16, 208–218. Nund, R. L., Ward, E. C., Scarinci, N., Cartmill, B., Kuipers, P., & Porceddu, S. V. (2014). The lived experience of dysphagia following non-surgical treatment for head and neck cancer. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 16, 282–289. Short, J., McCormack, J., & Copley, A. (2014). The current practices of speech-language pathologists in providing information to clients with traumatic brain injury. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 16, 219–230. Timms, L., Williams, C., Stokes, S. F., & Kane, R. (2014). Literacy skills of Australian Indigenous school children with and without otitis media and hearing loss. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 16, 327–334. Verdon, S., McLeod, S., & McDonald, S. (2014). A geographical analysis of speech-language pathology services to support multilingual children. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 16, 304–316. Wenke, R., Lawrie, M., Hobson, T., Comben, W., Romano, M., Ward, E., et al. (2014). Feasibility and cost analysis of implementing high intensity aphasia clinics within a subacute setting. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 16, 250–259. Westerveld, M. F., & Claessen, M. (2014). Clinician survey of language sampling practices in Australia. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 16, 242–249.
EDITORIAL
Synthesize, evaluate, act: 2013 Speech Pathology Australia Conference
Int J Speech Lang Pathol Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by Nanyang Technological University on 08/25/15 For personal use only.
NICOLE WATTS PAPPAS Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, NSW, Australia
This special issue highlights a number of the innovative papers presented at the 2013 Speech Pathology Australia conference held at the Gold Coast. The conference theme ‘synthesize, evaluate, act’ was evident in many of the papers presented, with a focus on both describing and evaluating our current practice as well as trialling novel assessment and intervention approaches. At the conference, we were privileged to hear three world-renowned keynote speakers share their research and insights. Their presentations are included in this issue in an adapted written form. Dr Rosemary Martino reported on research into the use of a new dysphagia screening tool – the Toronto Bedside Swallowing Screening Test (TOR-BSST©) (Martino, Maki, and Diamant, 2014). This assessment has been the subject of four multi-site studies evaluating its validity and is now being implemented in Canada as best practice. Dr Tiffany Hogan’s engaging and practical presentations on reading comprehension impairment were well attended at the conference. Her paper explores the importance of listening comprehension to overall reading comprehension, an area that has received relatively little attention in the literature (Hogan, Adlof, and Alonzo, 2014). In the Elizabeth Usher Memorial Lecture of the conference, Professor Sharynne McLeod (2014) provided a timely reminder of the ever-increasing multilingual nature of our society. In a practical and thought-provoking paper, McLeod explores how speech-language pathologists (SLPs) can meet the needs of the many clients who do not use English as their first or even second language. This issue also includes 11 select articles from the conference covering a diverse range of clinical populations and research methodologies. Three papers use a survey methodology to describe the current practice of SLPs. Short, McCormack, and Copley (2014) investigated SLPs’ provision of information regarding cognitive communication disorders to
clients with traumatic brain injury via an online survey. Their study outlines both facilitators and barriers to ideal information provision for this population. Aldous, Tolmie, Worrall, and Ferguson (2014) conducted an online survey of SLPs’ involvement in the assessment of decision-making capacity in aphasia, a potentially expanding area of practice for clinicians working with these clients. Additionally, Westerveld and Claessen (2014) surveyed SLPs regarding their use of language sampling practices. In their paper, the authors encourage clinicians to transform their practice by transcribing and analysing spontaneous language samples in more detail. Three studies evaluate the effectiveness of new and current clinical practices. Wenke, Lawrie, Hobson, Comben, Romano, Ward, et al. (2014) consider the effectiveness of three different intensive service delivery models for aphasia treatment. Of particular interest in this study was the consideration of the pro-rata cost of providing treatment per hour per client. Both group therapy and computer therapy models were found to be more costeffective than standard treatment, and all intensive models were associated with high client satisfaction. A promising new tool for evaluating the skills of early childhood educators in the areas of language and literacy support is presented by El-Choueifati, Purcell, McCabe, Heard, and Munroe (2014). In this pilot study the Interaction Communication and Literacy Skills Audit was demonstrated to reliably measure the verbal interactions of early childhood educators to facilitate language and literacy learning in young children. Finally, Goldberg, Heiss, Parsons, Foley, Mefferd, Hollinger, et al. (2014) report on the use of biometric impedance analysis as a noninvasive and easily administered tool to evaluate the hydration of people in aged care. Two papers report on studies utilizing interviews to gain a deeper understanding of the perspectives of both clients and clinicians. Nund, Ward, Scarinci, Cartmill, Kuipers, and Porceddu’s
ISSN 1754-9507 print/ISSN 1754-9515 online © 2014 The Speech Pathology Association of Australia Limited Published by Informa UK, Ltd. DOI: 10.3109/17549507.2014.916350
Int J Speech Lang Pathol Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by Nanyang Technological University on 08/25/15 For personal use only.
192
N.W. Pappas
(2014) thought-provoking paper provides a unique insight into the experiences of clients with dysphagia following head and neck surgery. Alternatively, Flatley, Kenny, and Lincoln (2014) explore the perspectives of clinicians in their unique study of the ethical dilemmas experienced by SLPs working in private practice. Following on from the theme of the Elizabeth Usher lecture, the Verdon, McLeod, and McDonald (2014) paper presents a geographical analysis of speech-language pathology services to support multilingual Australian children. This paper highlights the discrepancy between the multilingual services provided by SLPs and the often different languages spoken by clients who live in the same geographical area. Hoffman, Wilson, Copley, Hewat, and Lim (2014) also consider our work with multilingual clients in their study of the reliability of a severity rating scale for measuring stuttering in an unfamiliar language. They found poor agreement between SLPs using a severity rating scale to measure stuttering in Mandarin. Of interest is their additional finding that 50% of judges were also unable to reliably measure the severity of stuttering in Australian English, giving us pause to reflect on the effectiveness of our practice in this area. Finally, Timms, Williams, Stokes, and Kane (2014) present an interesting study investigating the impact of otitis media and hearing loss on the literacy skills of Australian indigenous school children. Their preliminary findings suggest that, whilst indigenous children do present with poorer literacy skills than non-indigenous children of a similar age, the presence of otitis media and hearing loss was not associated with poorer performance. They conclude that otitis media is just one of many factors that may impact on the literacy skills of Australian indigenous children. It has been my privilege to edit this special issue of IJSLP. In the spirit of the conference, I hope the many cutting-edge and innovative articles presented in this volume inspire readers to transform the results of research into best clinical practice.
Declaration of interest: The author reports no conflicts of interest. The author alone is responsible for the content and writing of the paper.
References Aldous, K., Tolmie, R., Worrall, L., & Ferguson, A. (2014). Speechlanguage pathologists’ contribution to the assessment of decisionmaking capacity in aphasia: A survey of common practices. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 16, 231–241. El-Choueifati, N., Purcell, A., McCabe, P., Heard, R., & Munroe, N. (2014). An initial reliability and validity study of the Interaction, Communication and Literacy Skills Audit. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 16, 260–272. Flatley, D. R., Kenny, B. J., & Lincoln, M. A. (2014). Ethical dilemmas experienced by speech-language pathologists working in private practice. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 16, 290–303. Goldberg, L. R., Heiss, C. J., Parsons, S. D., Foley, A. S., Mefferd, A. S., Hollinger, D., et al. (2014). Hydration in older adults: The contribution of bioelectrical impedance analysis. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 16, 273–281. Hoffman, L., Wilson, L., Copley, A., Hewat, S., & Lim, V. (2014). The reliability of a severity rating scale to measure stuttering in an unfamiliar language. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 16, 317–326. Hogan, T. P., Adlof , S. M., & Alonzo, C. (2014). On the importance of listening comprehension. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 16, 199–207. Martino, R., Maki, E., & Diamant, N. (2014). Identification of dysphagia using the Toronto Bedside Swallowing Screening Test (TOR-BSST©): Are ten teaspoons of water necessary? International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 16, 193– 198. McLeod, S. (2014). Resourcing speech-language pathologists to work with multilingual children. International Journal of SpeechLanguage Pathology, 16, 208–218. Nund, R. L., Ward, E. C., Scarinci, N., Cartmill, B., Kuipers, P., & Porceddu, S. V. (2014). The lived experience of dysphagia following non-surgical treatment for head and neck cancer. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 16, 282–289. Short, J., McCormack, J., & Copley, A. (2014). The current practices of speech-language pathologists in providing information to clients with traumatic brain injury. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 16, 219–230. Timms, L., Williams, C., Stokes, S. F., & Kane, R. (2014). Literacy skills of Australian Indigenous school children with and without otitis media and hearing loss. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 16, 327–334. Verdon, S., McLeod, S., & McDonald, S. (2014). A geographical analysis of speech-language pathology services to support multilingual children. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 16, 304–316. Wenke, R., Lawrie, M., Hobson, T., Comben, W., Romano, M., Ward, E., et al. (2014). Feasibility and cost analysis of implementing high intensity aphasia clinics within a subacute setting. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 16, 250–259. Westerveld, M. F., & Claessen, M. (2014). Clinician survey of language sampling practices in Australia. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 16, 242–249.
